Your Right to Know

WASHINGTON — Stepping up pressure on Moscow, the U.S. yesterday released satellite images it
says show that rockets have been fired from Russia into neighboring eastern Ukraine and that heavy
artillery for separatists has crossed the border.

The images, which came from the U.S. director of national intelligence and could not be
independently verified, show blast marks where rockets were launched and craters where they landed.
Officials said the images show heavy weapons fired between last Monday and Saturday — after the
July 17 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

The a four-page memo with the images is part of the Obama administration’s push to hold Russia
accountable for its activities in neighboring Ukraine, and the release could help to persuade the
United States’ European allies to apply harsher sanctions on Russia.

The timing of the memo also could be aimed at dissuading Russia from further military posturing.
The Pentagon said only days ago that the movement of Russian heavy-caliber artillery systems across
its border into Ukraine was “imminent.”

Moscow has angrily denied allegations of Russia’s involvement in eastern Ukraine. Russia’s
foreign ministry over the weekend accused the U.S. of conducting “an unrelenting campaign of
slander against Russia, ever more relying on open lies.”

Secretary of State John Kerry spoke by phone yesterday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov, urging him to stop the flow of heavy weapons and rocket and artillery fire from Russia into
Ukraine, said a State Department official. Kerry did not accept Lavrov’s denial that heavy weapons
from Russia were contributing to the conflict, said the official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.